If you’ve just started a new blog or
website, you must already be aware of the importance of getting it
ranked quickly and effectively on Google. While there are other traffic
sources, Google is still the number one search engine with, huge 77% market share. For many businesses, it’s their only source of traffic.
So,
if you’ve got a new blog and you want to achieve a high rank for it,
you’re in the right place. We’re going to give you a step by step
walkthrough of exactly how to rank your site effectively on Google.
Why is Google still so important?
While there are other sources of traffic that are extremely relevant, Google is still the best.
When
I first started trying to market my new blog, I didn’t realize how
important Google was going to be for me. I thought that I could get
traffic from loads of different sources without placing any extra
emphasis upon Google. I was wrong. The reality was that when I managed
to get a rank on the first page of Google, my visitor numbers went up
dramatically.
If you just miss out on the first page on Google, you might as well be nowhere! Research shows that 11th place on Google (top of the second page) only gets around 1% of the hits for that search.
What
that means is – if you’re trying to rank for a term with around 10,000
monthly searches, failing to get on the first page could at best get you
around 100 clicks. If you’ve got a conversion rate of around 2%, this
translates into two sales a month. Is that enough to make your business
viable?
Before we get deeper into how to rank your site – let’s have a look at why keyword selection is so important.
Carry out some detailed keyword research
If
you want to make your ranking efforts a success, you need to target the
right keywords. So, before you start optimizing your content or looking
for backlinks (we’ll get to that), you need to know which keywords to target.
There
are a number of tools available that’ll help you do this, including
Google’s very own keyword research page. The idea is to find a keyword
that can generate high search volumes and thus ensure heavy traffic for
your bolg or site. At the same time, the keyword should only face
moderate competition, so that it is able to rank high on a search page.
Obviously,
it is harder to get first page rankings for the highly competitive
terms . If you’re new to the ranking business, try and go for more niche
terms that are less competitive. Don’t just pick one keyword, choose a
few so you can mix them up when you need to.
If
you’re looking to make your keyword selection more niche by adding
“long-tails” to the end of broader terms – make sure you target active
long-tails rather than the passive ones. One great example of such
addition is “discount”. It effectively targets and engages people who
want to save on their shopping. If you can help them with their saving
targets – you could make a sale.
Other
great additions are things like the current year. With tons of outdated
information available on the internet, people like to add this to
ensure that they’re getting the most relevant and up-to-date
information.
Try and avoid additions like “free” as these largely encourage people who are looking for a free ride.
Create quality content
People
think there’s a shortcut to this and that they can play the system
without creating good content. There isn’t. This might have worked in
the past, but it doesn’t anymore. You’ve got to create relevant,
high-quality content. Not only will this be more shareable (giving you
more SEO juice as other people post links to it), but Google can also
recognize quality these days.
You
shouldn’t overlook the power of getting other people to share your
content. Content sharing acts as an effective marketing tool and thus,
helps in getting quality backlinks. – . But, all this can only be
achieved with great content.
So when
you create your content – make sure it’s good. Also, keep the keywords
you already researched in mind and mention them enough in your posts.
Not too much, but just enough – and use them in headings occasionally if
you can.
Get your sitemaps sorted
One
thing that Google looks for when trying to rank a page is its sitemaps
file. Make sure you’ve got one and that it’s kept up to date (there are
plugins that’ll do this for you). Your sitemap will notify Google of any
changes so that it knows when to rank new posts or pages.
Make sure all your on-page SEO is fixed
Before
we start looking at off-page SEO (backlinks), you need to make sure
your on-page optimization is completely sorted. Hopefully, you’re
already using your keywords in the posts you create, but you also need
to make sure everything like META tags and descriptions is filled out
and all your on-page content is fully optimized. Don’t worry – the
highly popular Yoast SEO plugin will guide you through this in WordPress
so that all your posts are optimized for the right keywords with the
right metrics and densities.
Why backlinks are so important for SEO
If
you really want to get your site noticed – you need backlinks.
Backlinks allow Google to assess the relevance and importance of the web
pages on their subject matters. While earlier, it was possible to spam
backlinks from various sources to boost your site up the Google
rankings, you can’t d that anymore. Now, You need to abide by quality.
Get good quality backlinks
Try
partnering with relevant authorities in your domain in exchange for
backlinks. Not only do these give you great link juice, they’re also
great for relevant residual traffic.
You
can also offer testimonials to other relevant authorities in return for
a backlink. Post your content to social bookmarks and other social
media sites. Make sure, you use the keywords you had picked as anchor
text – but vary it a little instead of using the same one again and
again.
One great way to get good
quality backlinks is to look for the mentions of your site or brand that
don’t include a link. Try to “recapture” thereby reaching out to their
authors and requesting them to add an anchor link to their mention.
Don’t
fall for those gigs on Fiverr that offer 10,000 links instantly. These
seem too good to be true because they are!. Using these methods can
actually get your site penalized or even blacklisted from Google.
Look for good quality backlinks from relevant, reputable sources and you should be set…
Hopefully, these tips are enough to get you started on your way to ranking success.
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